“Campaigning on the Internet is a good idea for modern politics.” MAYOR GIULIANI
Mayor Giuliani yesterday dared opponents to battle him on the Internet – but several of his most vociferous critics didn’t need an invitation to use the Web to sling mud.
Gushing over his new anti-Hillary Clinton Web site, Giuliani declared that “there have never been more users, more hits, more participants, for a political Web site ever.”
“Campaigning on the Internet is a good idea for modern politics.”
Giuliani last week launched a Web site tweaking Mrs. Clinton (www.HillaryNo.com).
To prevent a counterattack, the mayor’s campaign apparently secured rights to “www.RudyNo.com” and “GiulianiNo.com.”
Asked what would happen if someone tried to play the same Web-site game, the mayor said: “If they try, let’s see what happens. We may have thought of that … Let ’em try.
“The people who are doing this understand the Internet very, very well. They have great knowledge of it. If somebody wants it, they may have to pay us money for it.”
While RudyNo may be off-limits to mayoral foes, there are several other Internet sites that have already been launched by Giuliani-bashers.
The “RudySucks.com” site is devoted to all things anti-Giuliani, sometimes in language that can’t be published in a family newspaper.
“This Web site is for all those who want to speak out against the liquidation of our fair city, for all those with a voice who need to be heard,” declares the site’s creator, known simply as “NoMas.”
The site’s title page has a photo of Giuliani that transforms into a devil’s face at the click of a mouse. The site features editorials and links to other anti-Giuliani locations on the Web.
City officials also won’t be surfing to “The Anti-Giuliani Message Board” (www.outsider. net/fuehrer), and the Lower East Side Collective’s website (burn.ucsd.edu/%7emai/giulianism.html), which calls on visitors to “Stop Giulianism before it stops you!”
The message board’s title page declares: “Giuliani has proven to be an enemy of civil liberties, the free-market economy, and New York’s proud image.”
Cristyne Lategano, the mayor’s communications director, belittled the anti-Rudy sites.
“In one minute, the mayor’s new Web site has gotten more hits than these other sites have had in their lifetime on the Web,” she said.
Both Mrs. Clinton and Giuliani – who are considering running for the Senate next year – have already lost out on choice Internet addresses.
“Hillary.com” is home to a software company and “Giuliani.com” is a Web site for an airport architectural firm.